Dissolution Kinetic Evaluation of Manganese-rich Iron ore by Sulphuric acid Solution

This study investigated the optimum conditions for the leaching of manganese-rich iron ore for subsequent beneficiation studies in laboratory scale. The experiments were carried out by varying the concentration of H2 SO4 solution and the leaching temperature. The properties of the iron ore was characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) as well asphoto-micrographic examination. The leaching experiments showed that the ore leaching increases with increasing acid concentration and temperature. About 78.9% of the iron ore was reacted within 120 minutes by 4M H2 SO4 solution at a temperature of 80oC. The activation energy (Ea) and the order of reaction were determined to be 31.14kJ/mol and 0.979, respectively. The leaching data were fitted to the shrinking core model and the experimental results followed a diffusion controlled mechanism. The residual product at optimal leaching was appropriately characterized and was found to contain silicate compound.